


Into the Fold

by ASamwich



Series: Into the Fold [1]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Gen, I've seen several posts about Soundwave adopting Bumblebee, but gen 1 is where most of the inspiration from this fic is from, but not really, mostly I just wanted to write fluff, slight angst, so I wanted to write something, this doesn't really belong to one universe or the other?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:08:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26888647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ASamwich/pseuds/ASamwich
Summary: The Cybertronian War ended much sooner than expected. The budding alliance between Autobots and Decepticons slowly rebuild their world into something better, something that all Cybertronians can live peacefully on. And Bumblebee? He's just confused on why he suddenly keeps seeing Soundwave and his cassettes everywhere.
Relationships: Bumblebee & Soundwave (Transformers), Bumblebee & the cassettes, Soundwave & the cassettes
Series: Into the Fold [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2079750
Comments: 88
Kudos: 182





	1. Chapter 1

The war had ended. After many vorns, too many to count, the war had ended through a truce between the Autobots and Decepticons when the effect the war had on Cybertron had hit with surprising force. The shock of it has forced Optimus Prime and Megatron to realize that if they continued to fight, then sooner rather than later, there would be nothing left of Cybertron to fight for.

So, after orns of meetings- several which almost caused the two factions to collapse back into fighting- a pact had been settled. Cybertron could not be split apart into the two factions. That would only prompt the possibility of fighting later on. Instead, Optimus and Megatron decided that they would rule side by side. 

Of course, they would form a fair government with a mix of both autobot and decepticon members, but for now, as they began a new structure for the cybertronian race, they would work together. There was more to it then that- much much more that was complicated and hard and at this moment, Bumblebee couldn’t care less. He had much bigger things to worry about. Like where he was going to find shelter.

For the orns that Optimus and Megatron had spent discussing terms, most of the Cybertronians had remained in their respective ship- Autobots on the Arc, and Decepticons on the Nemesis. But once the decision for the two leaders to rule side by side had been made, they had all started spreading out to the closest city- Iacon, and had begun building up again and moving in. Now, Bee was one of few that still lived on the Arc. Even then, those who remained were simply staying there for recharge while they rebuilt their homes. Bumblebee knew he should do the same, but there was a big problem in his way. He was still a youngling.

Not that anyone knew. He was in his second upgrade, and it was still vorns before his third upgrade. Everybody just thought that he was abnormally small, even by minibot standards. He still would be, even after his third upgrade, but still.   
The scout had gone straight to the autobots after his creators had been killed and signed up, lying about his age as he was quickly welcomed aboard and placed to be trained underneath Jazz in the special ops. There was no questioning, no second guesses in a war where both sides were desperate for extra servos. Which was just fine for Bee. But now there was no more war.

If Bumblebee tried hard enough, he could probably get a place, and a job without anyone questioning him, but he was terrified of what would happen if someone did find out. It wouldn’t stop him however, and that is why he was currently stuck hiding underneath an outcrop of a building as a storm rumbled above him. He had been on his way to see Jazz. The former special ops mech had been setting up a bar with Blurr and Mirage, and the scout had been hoping to possibly find a job with him since he was having a rather difficult time with all the other jobs he had tried to get.

Unfortunately, it looked like it was going to start raining at any moment, and Bumblebee refused to be caught in the acid rain. If he got acid rain on him, then he’d have to go to Ratchet. Going to Ratchet- who was no longer constantly stressing over war injuries- could mean the medic finding out about him being ‘underage’. Bee was worried that if someone found out, there would just be even more trouble than there already was. That was the last thing anyone needed right now. So he was going to have to be stuck underneath this barely acceptable shelter until the storm passed.

“Hey, Bumblebot!” A loud voice suddenly rang out, causing Bumblebee to jump in alarm as he felt his combat protocols activate. Turning sharply, the scout was surprised to see the cassettes Rumble and Frenzy standing nearby, looking unconcerned by the incoming storm. 

Forcing his combat protocols down- the war was over and he didn’t have to fight- Bumblebee replied with a frown, “It’s Bumblebee. Can I help you two with something?”

“We wanted to know what you were doing next to our place,” Frenzy replied, servos on his hips.

Taking a moment to step out of his shelter briefly, Bumblebee realized that the building he had been sheltering next to did look a lot newer, and nicer, compared to the rest of the buildings around here. He had been so busy looking for something suitable to keep him dry that he must have not noticed the difference. “Sorry,” the minibot said to the twins, holding up his palms, “I had no idea. I was just trying to find a place to stay dry till the storm passed.” And the last thing he needed was to get into a fight with decepticons. Optimus would not be thrilled if the war started again because the cassettes were territorial. 

The twins glanced at each other briefly before an excited look flashed over their visors and they turned back to Bumblebee. “You can stay at our place during the storm!” Rumble announced.

That… was awfully nice of them. Feeling a tad bit suspicious at the offer, Bumblebee opened his mouth to, kindly, reject their offer, but was cut off from a very loud rumble of thunder, causing the minibot to jump in alarm. “O-okay,” Bumblebee stuttered out, “If i- it’s alright with you guys?”

It apparently was, as the cassettes each grabbed a hold of an arm and practically dragged the yellow minibot into their home right as it started to rain acid. Glancing out at the now pouring storm, Bumblebee looked over at the twins and said in a now sincere voice, “Um… thank you. For, y’know, letting me shelter here. I can stay right here till it stops.” 

“Nah, you can stay in our room!” Rumble said with a shake of his head as the two continued to drag Bumblebee down the hallway as Frenzy explained, “Soundwave said it was supposed to rain all night, so you’re gonna need to have a place to recharge. We have an extra berth, so it’s all good!”

Bumblebee could only let out a mildly uncomfortable hum. It’s not that he didn’t mind having a place to stay the night in, and he didn’t hate Soundwave and the cassettes- or most of the decepticons anyway- but… it wasn’t long ago that they had been trying to deactivate each other in order to come up on top. He’s had plenty of close calls, and he’s aware that there were several times he’s gotten in lucky hits. 

Now he was sitting on a berth in a room with two former enemies, in a place that housed even more former enemies. Bumblebee was feeling quite stressed at the moment. The two cassettes weren’t even really doing anything. After they had led Bumblebee into their room and had pointed out which berth he could use, they had separated to do their own thing. Frenzy was now sprawled out on top of his berth reading a comic while Rumble appeared to be rummaging through some discs next to a tv set.   
Luckily, Bumblebee was distracted when he felt his comm ring. Glancing once more at the twins, the scout turned slightly and opened his comm link to Prowl.

_:The Arc is being closed for the night. Where are you?:_

_:I had to find shelter before the storm. I wouldn’t have made it to the Arc in time.:_

_:Does shelter mean you’re standing underneath some sort of outcrop barely avoiding the rain?:_

Bumblebee winced. That was what he had been planning to do. _:No! I’m staying over at.... Some friends’ house. I’ll be back to the Arc tomorrow.:_

_:Try to check the weather next time. See you tomorrow.:_

_:Bye.:_

Right after he turned his comm link off, Bumblebee heard the sound of heavy pedsteps approaching. Turning his head, the minibot watched as the door slid open and Soundwave stepped in. “Refueling: ready,” the decepticon announced. He then spotted Bee sitting quietly on the extra berth. The two stared at each other for a moment before Soundwave nodded his head to the other, “Bumblebee: may join.” He then left the room. 

Frenzy and Rumble instantly dropped what they were doing and scrambled out of the room, only giving a slight pause to shout for Bumblebee to follow. The minibot hesitated before getting up and slowly following after the cassettes. He was hungry, and it would be rude to deny an invitation, but was it worth the awkwardness of being in a room with both Soundwave and all of his cassettes?

Following the noise from a room down the hall, Bumblebee peered in to see a large kitchen area that held some sort of organized chaos with Soundwave right in the middle of it. He had forgotten how many cassettes the decepticon had. Rumble and Frenzy had already grabbed their cubes of energon and were currently sitting on a counter while Soundwave was setting up with some other cassettes. The bird cons were perched up high while everyone else was scattered about the room. There was a bump against Bee’s leg, making him jolt in surprise and turned to see Ravage entering the room. 

“No use standing in the doorway,” the beast con rumbled, “Soundwave invited you, so you don’t have to hide.”

“R-right,” Bumblebee mumbled as he followed in after Ravage. Fortunately for him, besides a couple of curious glances from the cassettes who didn’t know he was here, no one seemed bothered by his appearance. Although, he thought he heard Lazerbeak mutter, “Already?” in her energon, but he was distracted by Soundwave reaching over Ratbat to hand him his own cube of energon. 

"Thank you," Bumblebee said in appreciation as he took the cube from the larger mech and quickly went to a corner where he could quietly drink his energon. It was interesting to watch the scene before him as he refueled. While a bit chaotic, the interaction between the decepticons was… very domestic. It brought up a well of nostalgia long buried into the minibot's spark. Bee quickly forced it down before he could feel upset about a past that he couldn't bring back and his sullen expression behind the cube as he took another sip.

What Bumblebee missed, however, was the small glance Soundwave gave him when he hid his face, nor the subtle look he cast the twins. The twins caught the look however, and quickly finished their energon before bounding over to Bumblebee. Seeing the two cassettes approach, Bumblebee drank the last of his energon to prepare himself for whatever the two wanted. “Let’s go back to our berthroom!” Rumble said as he took the empty cube from Bee and tossed it on the table while grabbing onto the minibot’s arm.

“We just got our tv set up and haven’t had anyone to watch things with us,” Frenzy took over as they began to tug Bee out of the refueling area, “It gets boring when it’s just us watching.”

“But,” Bumblebee began to argue back, “Shouldn’t I at least clean my cube up first? It’s rude of me to-”

“Soundwave will take care of it!” Rumble interrupted cheerfully, “It’s his turn with dishes anyway.” Despite the reassurance of the cassette, Bumblebee cast an apologetic look towards the blue mech as he was dragged out of the room. Soundwave simply lifted up a servo, looking unconcerned about having an extra cube to clean.

So, Bumblebee was once again sitting on top of his borrowed berth, only this time he was squished between the twins watching some odd alien movie. He enjoyed it, surprisingly, and didn’t mind when they put in another similar movie. By the third movie Bumblebee had slowly slipped into recharge without noticing.


	2. Chapter 2

Bumblebee woke from recharge on his own in a slow, muddled way that he wasn’t used to waking up to. Even when safely aboard the Arc, the scout usually woke up from recharge alert- just in case he was woken up for reasons that needed his immediate attention. Resetting his optics a couple times, Bumblebee sat up as he looked around, confused at where he was for just a moment before it came back to him. He was staying at Soundwave and the cassette’s place while it stormed. Neither twin was in the room.

Checking his chronometer, Bumblebee realized that he had slept past the time he usually woke up. Which meant that, hopefully, Jazz’s bar was open and he could head straight over. Well, as long as it wasn’t raining acid anymore. Even though he didn’t see anyone around, Bumblebee still moved quietly as he could as he made his way out of the room and to the front door. Opening it, he let out a relieved sigh to see clear skies. 

Right as he was about to step out the door, Bumblebee stopped at the sound of approaching pedesteps. Turning, he blinked in surprise to see Soundwave approaching with a cube of energon. He was even more surprised as Soundwave handed it to him.  
“... thank you,” Bumblebee said before he gave the energon a small sip. It was sweet. “You really didn’t have to though. I was going to see if Jazz had anything at his bar I could have.”

“Destination: Jazz’s bar?” Soundwave questioned, helm tilted curiously.

Bumblebee nodded as he took another sip before replying, “I was thinking of trying to get a job there. Maybe as a server or something. A lot of the needed jobs at the moment are… outside of my capabilities. Or have already been taken.”

Soundwave nodded in understanding, and Bumblebee thought that would be the end of their conversation, but the con surprised him once again when he said, “Soundwave: also going to Jazz’s bar. We can walk together.”

Oh primus, now that would be uncomfortable. But Bee couldn’t really deny the other, as he had just given him energon. Once Bumblebee had finished, him and Soundwave began to make their way to where the bar was. There was a silence between them for the first several clicks. Soundwave realized he had to slow his pace so that Bumblebee’s short legs could keep up with him, and the minibot was mostly focused on trying not to fall behind. Most of the time, Soundwave didn’t have to go slow for shorter bots because most of the shorter bots were his cassettes, and they would rather chill in his tape dock then try and keep up with him.

It was Soundwave who broke the silence. “Bumblebee: where are you staying?”

Taking a moment, Bumblebee decided to answer truthfully, “At the Arc for now. I… haven’t found a place that I would like to live yet.”

“Sharing with other bot: would be easier.”

At this, the minibot gave a shrug, “It would, but we’ve had to share rooms for a long time on the Arc. I thought it would be better to let everyone have their own space, and not intrude.” Soundwave let out a low hum, and the two lapsed back into silence before Bumblebee thought of something. “Do the cassettes have jobs now?”

“Rumble and Frenzy: Utilize skills in construction. Other cassettes: have found seperate jobs,” Soundwave replied.

“And you’re still working with Optimus and Megatron on getting things fixed?”

“Yes. Jazz’s bar: is one of the first that both Autobot and Decepticon can mingle. Soundwave: is looking it over.” 

That sounded pretty reasonable. Once they got to the bar, Bumblebee gave a small wave goodbye to Soundwave as the other split apart from him to talk to Blaster, who looked like he was setting up some sort of sound system. When Soundwave waved back at Bee, Blaster seemed to raise an amused optic ridge that the minibot didn’t notice as he made his way over to where Jazz was working on something behind the bar counter.

“Bee!” Jazz started enthusiastically when he spotted the scout, not bothering to get up from where he was kneeling and dragged the smaller mech into a side hug, “Haven’t seen you in a while! Still staying on the Arc?”

While returning Jazz’s hug with just as much enthusiasm, Bumblebee replied, “I am at the moment. Wanted to get a job before trying to find somewhere to live. Which is why I’m here.”

“Oh?” Jazz pulled back with an exaggerated pout on his face, “You mean you didn’t come here to see your most favorite mech ever? I’m hurt little Bee.” 

Rolling his optics in amusement at Jazz, Bee giggled, “Seeing you is a bonus!” He hesitated before asking, “But, I was kind of hoping that you might have some open jobs here? Ones that I might possibly be able to do?"

The special ops mech seemed to think carefully about Bumblebee’s question before he replied, “There’s a possibility that once the bar picks up traction, we might need some servers. That might be up your ally. But right now, we’re still trying to get this place set up.” Jazz looked Bumblebee up and down, something seeming to have come to him, “You are old enough to be in a bar, right Bee?”

 _No. I’m not._ “Of course I am!” Bumblebee lied with a scoff, but felt a little crestfallen “If I can’t get a job right now though… is there anyone else I could look to for a job?”

Blaster was the one to answer, having heard what Jazz and Bee were talking about as he came up to where they were, “I think I might know a job you can take up.” The scout instantly perked up as he looked at the red mech expectantly. “You could be a delivery bot. With how well you did as a scout, I bet that it would be easy for you to move around delivering things. Would make my day a whole lot easier if I didn’t have to travel around a bunch trying to get parts from different mechs.”

That… actually sounded pretty fun. Bumblebee felt his mouth part into a small ‘oh’ as he thought about it. He’d get to move around a bunch, and still be able to see all his friends without having to go through the whole difficult process it took to get a job. “That sounds great!” Bumblebee began enthusiastically, but then his enthusiasm dwindled slightly as another thought came to mind, “Only, how would I go about doing it? No one would know to contact me about delivering things.”

“I think I can help with that!” Jazz slid back into the conversation, visor twinkling in excitement, “We’re setting up a sort of announcement file that anyone can add things to. If you’d like, I can send out an ad of sorts with your comm number so that anyone who needs any sort of delivery can contact you.” 

Fully excited- and relieved- Bumblebee practically bounced into another hug with Jazz before going to Blaster and hugging him as well. “Thank you both!” Both mechs chuckled at the minibot’s enthusiasm. 

“And for your first job,” Blaster said as he pulled out two cubes of energon from his subspace, “Would you mind taking these to Rewind and Eject? They’re doing some filming not far from here, but they forgot these when they left this morning. I can comm you their location and send a couple shanix to your account.”

“No problem!” Bumblebee replied excitedly as he took the energon cubes from Blaster, carefully placing them in his subspace before waving to the rest of the inhabitants of the bar before heading outside. Once he got the location from Blaster, Bumblebee transformed into his alt-mode and sped away, intent on doing his first job correctly.

Jazz watched as Bumblebee disappeared down the street through the bar’s window before turning back to his current work. There were a few moments of silence before he decided to speak up. “So Bee walked in with you Soundwave. Did you guys happen to meet outside of the bar?”

There was another beat of silence before Soundwave replied, voice betraying no sort of emotion, “Rumble and Frenzy: Found Bumblebee outside of our apartment. Bumblebee: was taking shelter for the approaching storm. Cassettes: invited scout in for shelter. It was only natural to let him stay the night.” 

The suspicion Jazz felt dissipated into budding amusement as he turned towards the blue decepticon, “So not only did you let him stay the night, but you also walked him here? And seeing at what time the storm had started yesterday, then you obviously gave him energon as well.” By the way that Soundwave refused to look over at the black and white autobot, Jazz had nailed it on the head. 

Not bothered by the cold shoulder the other gave him, Jazz simply chuckled as he went back to his work as he realized what was going on. “I don’t mind you trying to bring Bee into your fold of minis, but just be warned- you’ve got several bots who are just as adamant about keeping that spot for themselves.”

“.... Soundwave: will keep that in mind.”


	3. Chapter 3

A cheery pop song hummed from Bumblebee’s radio as he made his way down the street, the load hooked to him rumbling softly behind. A theater was being built, and the scout had been greatly involved in bringing in supplies- and energon- for the ones working on it’s construction. 

It had been a good several orns since Blaster’s suggestion at him working delivery, and honestly? Bee was having a great time with it. Once word got around about it- courtesy of Jazz- the minibot had a flood of requests from both autobots and decepticons who needed things delivered. He was even getting requests from a couple of the neutrals who had slowly been returning to the planet as it was being rebuilt. 

Since there was no more fighting, Bumblebee realized that there were a lot of cons who were actually not too bad. He would even go as far to say he was friends with a couple of his more consistent decepticon customers. At least, the constructicons were always thrilled to see him when he brought them their daily meal of energon during the afternoon. If it was because of the energon, or the fact that they didn’t have to exert the energy to go get it, Bee wasn’t sure.

Pulling up to the construction site of the theater, Bumblebee let out a loud honk of his horn to alert the others of his presence. “Bee’s here!” Hoist yelled out, and there were suddenly several Cybertronians all swarming around the yellow minibot’s load as they got out their supplies. “Thanks Bee,” Hoist said, patting the smaller’s shoulder after he had transformed back to his root mode, “You’ve really helped keep us on schedule.” Hoist bent down a little and whispered, “Did you get the extra thing I asked for?” 

Bumblebee grinned and pulled out the container of energon goodies he had kept separate. “Yup,” he whispered back, handing it to a beaming Hoist, “There should be enough for everyone. Trailbreaker was thrilled at how much you ordered.”

“I bet he was more thrilled for the amount of shanix I had to pay,” Hoist grumbled as he subspaced the goodies, “Still, it’ll be worth it. We’re about to reach our halfway point in finishing this thing, and I thought some energon goodies would be a good reward.” 

“I bet,” Bumblebee said with a laugh and waved goodbye to Hoist before turning to leave. A shout of his name stopped him though, and he turned to see Frenzy and Rumble approaching him. Feeling a vague sense of deja vu, Bumblebee offered the cassette twins a smile and wave as they came up to them. “Do you guys need anything? I’ve got some time before my next delivery if you need me to take something.”

“Nah,” Frenzy replied with a shake of his head and gestured behind him at the half constructed theater, “It’s our break time, and we were going to go refuel.”

Rumble cut in, “And we wanted you to join us!” Bumblebee blinked in surprise at the offer, and took a moment to actually consider it. He let a small smile curl onto his faceplates.

“Sure. I’d like to join you.” 

Turns out that afternoon refuel was just as chaotic as evening refuel, even with just the twins. Instead of going out somewhere to get energon, they had gone back to the decepticons’ apartment and had prepared the energon there. This time, Bumblebee made sure to clean his own energon cube as he watched the cassette twins squabble over something on a datapad. He didn’t have any plans in being involved- Bee was perfectly happy to just listen and make sure that Soundwave didn’t come back to see energon splattered all over his kitchen. Then Bee would never be invited back. … Not that he planned on being invited back.

“What do you think Bee?” Rumble finally huffed, looking over at the scout expectantly.

“Huh? About what?”

“This!” Frenzy replied as he waved the datapad in the air, “We’ve been watching a bunch of movies from a place called Earth, and while Alien is obviously the better movie, Rumble is insistent that The Predator is better!"

“It is!” Rumble shot back before turning back to Bee, “So? Which one is better? 

“Uh,” Bumblebee could only give a shy smile, “I’ve actually never seen either of those? I never really had my own stuff I watched, and a lot of stuff the autobots watched was soap operas.”

With the shock and horrified looks the twins gave him, Bumblebee was thankful for the sudden notification he got of his next package that he had to go pick up. Thanking the twins for having him over for lunch, the minibot quickly left the cassette house before he could get chewed out for not seeing the movies they mentioned.

It was two days later when Bumblebee ran into another cassette. Or well, when another cassette decided to use him as a perch. He had been finishing up for the day and had been enjoying the last little bit of sun when there was the noise of wing flaps approaching and a sudden weight settling itself onto his head between his horns. Optics flicking upward, Bee could see the underside of Lazerbeak’s beak as she got herself settled. 

“You okay?” Bumblebee asked, voice laced in confusion and slight worry at his sudden companion.

“Just resting,” Lazerbeak hummed back, seeming to be content to leave it at that. No explanation as to why she decided to rest right on the minibot’s head. Well… Bee guessed he didn’t mind too much. The casseticon wasn’t really heavy, and she simply seemed like she was enjoying the last bit of sun like Bumblebee was. So, settling himself back down, careful not to disturb the one on his helm, Bee went back to enjoying the view with his temporary companion. 

Storms were the worst. Acid rain sucked, dust storms choked air vents, and the rare bit of lightning storm was dangerous for a planet made of metal. But, there was nothing worse than snow storms. Cybertron didn’t have snow in most places, thankfully. But he had received a notification that several seekers had gone to where Vos stood in order to figure out what state the area was in so they could start rebuilding, but had quickly realized that they were out of several materials needed for their research. So instead of coming back to Iacon, Acid Storm had sent a request to Bumblebee asking the scout to bring their supplies.

There wasn’t really much to complain about the job. It took only a couple solar cycles to get to and from the two cities, but the issue was the one patch of ice flats that had formed between the two during the war. It was cold, and snow storms often raged around that area. He could go around, but the seekers requested that the supplies were needed as quickly as possible, and going through the ice flats was the quickest way possible. 

It was now a regretted decision. Bumblebee had been halfway through when a snowstorm had hit, making driving almost impossible as the ice caused his tires to skid and the snow blinded him to the point where he could barely see where he was driving. At this point, he was less worried about getting the supplies to the seekers quickly, and more concerned about how he was going to get out at all. 

His concentration on driving straight and steady was suddenly broken as there was warmth pressed against either side of him, stabilizing his wobbly form. Another warm form suddenly landed carefully on top of his hood. His confusion on who was with him was answered when he got a sudden comm. Accepting it, Bumblebee realized that the one on his roof was RatBat. 

_:Turn a little to the right:_ the casseticon instructed. 

Doing as he said, Bee turned to the right, allowing the other two forms to keep him stable as he continued through the storm. 

With instructions from RatBat- and the support of Howlback and Slugfest against his sides- the four were able to struggle their way out of the ice flats, and in turn, out of the snowstorm. Despite being out of the cold, Bumblebee's plating continued to rattle as he shivered, unable to get the chill off. He wasn't even sure if he could transform right now. 

"Let's keep going," Howlback muttered from her place softly, "The sooner we get to Vos, the sooner we can get warm safely." The others echoed their agreement, the idea of getting warm exceeding the want to just shut down and recharge, and continued along.   
The four cybertronians made it to Vos by the end of the solar cycle. They had barely entered the still fairly broken down city when they were surrounded by a flurry of seekers. The supplies, which had thankfully not been damaged, was unhitched from Bee's alt-mode before the minibot carefully transformed back into his root-mode, plating still clicking together as he continued to shiver. That was quickly solved as Skyfire- who had joined the seekers in Vos earlier- swept up Bee into his arms and quickly took the shivering mech into one of the buildings and bundled him up in a thermal blanket. He was joined by the cassettes, and once settled, the four were given warmed energon before being left alone.

Bumblebee waited to ask what was on his mind until more than half his energon was gone and he no longer felt like he'd shiver his armor off. "So, um…" Bee began, unsure of how to start, "How did you guys know to find me? Or that I was even in trouble at all?" 

It was RatBat who answered, looking up at Bee with an energon stained muzzle, "You were late to the agreed upon time to Vos. After the seekers tried to contact you, and received nothing but static, Starscream contacted Megatron, who then contacted Optimus. Apparently no one could get a hold of you, so the two had planned to send a search party when Soundwave overheard them talking. He had an idea of where you were, and sent us to retrieve you."

"We let them know we found you once we arrived at Vos," Howlback added, "So no need to look so worried."

Unclenching his servos from the energon cube, Bumblebee let out a heavy vent as he forced himself to relax. He hadn't realized how much trouble he had caused by trying to take a shortcut. He'd have to apologies to the two leaders, and the seekers as well. Maybe they'd take a discount? He would also have to thank Soundwave as well. But the ones who deserve the first thank you were the cassettes next to him. 

"Thanks for saving my aft," Bumblebee said with a light grin at his rescuers, "I'll have to find a way to repay all of you back."

The three cassettes looked pleased, and Slugfest grunted, "More energon," in a way that said that his mind was made up in what he wanted as payment. 

"Sure," Bee said with a light laugh, as he leaned back against the wall, starting to feel drowsy now that he was warm and full, "I'll make sure to treat you all to energon." 

After that whole event, Bumblebee began to notice that he was beginning to see and interact with the cassettes, and in turn, Soundwave, a lot more in the following orns. It was really all casual stuff, like getting energon with each other once in a while, exchanging conversation whenever he saw one of them, and his now almost traditional sunset watch with Lazerbeak. 

It was a pleasant fixture in his now fairly busy lifestyle. The minibot had gotten popular with delivery services, and more and more cybertronians were contacting him about getting things to and from places as more places were being built and restored. Jazz had once joked that Bee could build an actual business of this and end up hiring other cybertronians to work for him. Not a bad idea, but for the moment, the minibot was content with focusing on his own income. He was close to finding a place to stay, and he didn't want to delay due to the fact that he was one of three autobots still left on the Arc- the other two only staying there because Wheeljack accidently blew their apartment up.

"Here's the engex that was ordered," Bee announced as he walked into the back of Jazz's bar, his load rolled in behind him. Blurr zipped over and checked through, nodding with a grin when everything was accounted for.

"Thanks Bee," Blurr said as he began unpacking with the minibot's help, "Mirage said that there were a couple new ships- autobot and neutral from the sound of it- but we didn't realize how many would be coming to the bar!”

Bumblebee smiled at the exasperated, but excited tone the blue mech had, "It's picked up a lot of traction. I think they're relieved that there's a place to relax despite all the work that's still left." Craning his head to see over the bar, Bee let out a whistle at the amount of cybertronians he saw inhabiting the bar. And how many looked drunk off their processors. "Do you have enough workers to handle the crowd?"

"We do!" Blurr huffed as he put up the last of the engex, "We've got a new bartender called Swerve- good mech, but talks too much-"

"-I don't think you're one to talk-"

"-and besides our servers, we just hired two new bouncers."

"Oh?" Bumblebee tried to look towards the entrance to see, but there were too many bodies, "And who did you hire?"

"Strika and Clobber," Blurr said with a grin, and seeing Bee's surprised look, added, "They're really good! Both look intimidating, but Clobber is actually pretty sweet, so she balances out Strika's more… scary image. We've had very few trouble makers since we've hired those two!"

Bumblebee nodded in understanding. He had never directly interacted with Strika, but he's seen her, and has absolutely no desire to end up on her bad side. Clobber, however, he had met before; during and after the war. She's had him deliver a couple things, and was always really polite to him. He's also seen her pick up a full grown mech- who had a bunch of heavy looking things in his arms- and then easily tossed him up onto a ledge he needed to get on. Those two wouldn't let anything happen to this bar.  
"Well, this was my last stop for the day, so I'm going to get going," Bumblebee stated as he began to move toward the back exit. 

"You sure you don't want to stay?" Blurr asked in surprise, "The bar is open for quite a while longer, and Jazz said you haven't taken advantage of your discount yet."

Smiling uneasily, Bumblebee shook his head, "Nah, I've just been super busy, and need to rest. I'll make sure to use my discount sometime soon." Waving at Blurr, Bee shimmied his way out as he added, "Make sure to tell Jazz and Mirage I said hi!" The minibot then quickly exited before the other could say anything else.

A vent left Bumblebee as he moved around to the front part of the bar. He didn't like how he was avoiding certain things because of his age, but Bee felt like he had missed the window of telling the truth about his age, and now he had to continue lying about it until he was truly back into a corner. Which hopefully would never happen. 

Walking past the bar, Bumblebee was too deep in his thoughts to notice a form pull away from the side of the building and quietly follow him. It wasn't until Bumblebee had gone down several blocks in a more rundown area that he realized that he was being followed. Vents stalling as he almost missed a step at the realization, Bee forced himself to keep moving as he subtly looked around at his surroundings, hoping there was some place he could duck into that had other cybertronians.   
Unfortunately, Bee must have really been not paying attention to where he was going, because nothing looked recognizable. Scrap, the minibot thought in alarm. Here he was, being followed through a section of Iacon he was not familiar with, with no weapons in means of fighting back. Glancing at his follower with the corner of his optic, Bee saw that he didn't recognize who was following him. They didn't have a badge, so they must have been one of the neutrals that had recently arrived to Cybertron. They were also twice as tall as him, and had a look in their optics that made the minibot's tanks squirm uneasily. 

Focusing his attention back to the front, Bumblebee began to pick up the pace while his optics bounced around at his surroundings. He needed an opening to transform into his alt-mode, and hoped to Primus that his stalker didn't have an alt-mode that was faster than his. There weren't any openings though, and as Bumblebee continued to move faster, so did his stalker. 

By the time that Bumblebee could practically feel the heat the other cybertronian was letting off, the minibot was about to throw any caution into the wind and hope that he wouldn't crash into anything. That's when another form peeled away from the shadows before he could transform.

An icy fear raced through Bee as he realized that he was too late in transforming, and was now trapped between two unknowns. That is, until the new cybertronian took shape as they stepped fully out of the shadows. "Ravage," Bee gasped out, relief replacing his fear at the sight of the decepticon. He practically rushed over to the cassette, who then proceeded to barricade themself between the minibot and the neutral, who looked displeased at the sudden interference.

Ravage looked even more displeased, if the snarl on their face was anything to go by. A thick tension descended upon the three as Ravage and the other stared each other down. The only sound was the quiet swish of Ravage's tail as it lashed in a dangerous threat.

The mech before them considered the dangerous cassetticon before him as his optics slowly slid up to Bee and regarded him for a moment before smirking. Bumblebee tensed up, expecting the other to act despite the snarling decepticon between. Instead, he simply kept eye contact with Bee a moment longer before stepping back and disappearing into the gloom of night.

Once fully sure that the stalker was gone, Bee vented out harshly and practically slumped to his knees, suddenly aware that he was shaking. Ravage watched the shaking minibot before them carefully before nudging Bee up onto his pedes gently.   
"Come," Ravage rumbled, once again nudging Bumblebee forward, "You're not going all the way back to the Arc. You can stay with us tonight."

All Bumblebee could do was nod mutely as he followed closely next to Ravage, who brought no attention to the fact that every couple of clicks, Bee would catiously look around at their surroundings as if expecting to be suddenly jumped again, or that you could feel the panic that laced Bee’s em field. Not that the cassetticon blamed him. 

They got to the apartment without trouble, and Ravage led Bumblebee down the hall to where the two of them could hear noise coming from the inside of an offset room. "Figures," Ravage sighed and pushed the door open before heading inside with Bee following a bit more hesitantly now that he was inside. 

The room they walked into was set up like a miniature theatre, with all the cassettes getting settled on various soft objects while Soundwave was casually lounging in the corner. They appeared to have been waiting for Ravage to start watching a movie, but looked surprised to see Bumblebee behind him. The surprise quickly turned to delight and before the minibot had time to really process what had happened, he had somehow been transferred to a bean bag in the middle of the group, practically trapped by the settling cassetticons. 

While Bumblebee decided to accept his fate and get settled- not like he was going to get much sleep that night anyway- he didn't notice that instead of joining right away, Ravage had slunk over to Soundwave and was whispering something softly to the larger decepticon. He also didn't notice how Soundwave's visor seemed to darken. 

It was when Soundwave stood up that everyone turned their attention to the two in the back of the room. "Soundwave: must go take care of something. Cassettes: can start without me." Ignoring the slight complaining from the twins, Soundwave quickly left the room. 

Everyone's attention soon turned back to the starting movie, except for Bee, who gave Ravage a confused look as the cassette got comfortable to his right. They simply twitched an audial in the minibot's direction, not bothering to say anything about the matter he spoke with Soundwave about.

It was a couple movies in when Soundwave returned. By this time, Bumblebee and the cassettes had started to slowly become drowsy, and looked like they would only be awake for one or two more movies. They were drowsy enough to not notice the bright pink that stained the blue mech's knuckles before he wiped them off with a cloth and settled himself back down in the back of the room, content to watch over the other inhabitants.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the comments! I'm glad the fic has been enjoyable so far and I'm excited to share more of it!

Bumblebee woke up and instantly realized he couldn't move. He could wiggle slightly, but that was about it. Despite the fact that he couldn't move, he didn't feel an imminent feeling of danger, or any sort of panic that usually went with this scenario. He was… comfortable, actually. 

Optics onlining slowly, a blurred mixture of colors soon sharpened, and _then_ came the panic that bubbled underneath his armor. The minibot quickly realized that he was smack dab in the middle of a cuddle pile. A cuddle pile made up of all cassettes and one minibot. Him. 

Stationed right in the middle was Bee himself, with the twins on either side claiming his arms. Ravage, Howlback, and Glint were all partially sprawled out on parts of his legs, while Slugfest had his head resting on his torso, neck stretched over Rumble. Lazerbeak and SquawkBox were nestled together above his helm while their heads were actually resting on his helm between his horns. The rest of the cassettes were piled around the main group, still deep in recharge. 

Soundwave was nowhere to be seen. Which had to count as something. Cuddling with the cassettes is one thing, but Bee was pretty sure he'd die in embarrassment if he found himself cuddling with the decepticon communications officer. 

Realizing that there was no way to get away from the impromptu cuddle pile, Bumblebee offlined his optics with a slight sigh, deciding it was better to be asleep when the other's woke up then face the embarrassment once the rest woke up. He did not notice Soundwave peer into the room a moment later, and he definitely didn’t hear the soft click of a photo being taken. 

******

It had been early morning when Bumblebee slipped out of the apartment. Using all of his skills as a scout, he was able to wiggle out of the tangled cluster of cassettes and left before anyone else had awakened. He felt guilty about just leaving, but after having woken up a second time- more aware of his surroundings this time- a heavy feeling in his spark had formed and he just _had_ to leave. It was too soon, too much. Too similar to his time with his creators and siblings before they had all died. And the worst thing was that he enjoyed being around Soundwave and the cassettes. He didn’t mind being friends with them, but the feeling of _family_ he was starting to feel towards them felt like he was like he was just trying to replace his deceased family.

The cool air curled around Bumblebee’s plating as he moved farther away, his tanks turning uneasily as the heaviness in his spark remained. He just didn’t know what to do. 

Admittedly, he did care about Soundwave and his cassettes, much like how he cared about the Autobots he bonded with. Bee wanted to spend time with them, and get to know them better, but the uneasiness of becoming too attached was too much for him. Maybe… he shouldn’t be spending so much time with them. There was no doubt that if he continued to interact with the others, then he would only end up disappointing them, or worse, losing them just like his old family.

Which is what Bumblebee did. Practically devoting his waking time with his delivery job, the minibot limited every interaction he had with the cassettes and Soundwave to, at the most, a flighty greeting and farewell with a fake cheery smile on his face while trying to ignore the flashes of hurt on the other’s faces and the guilt that burned inside him. He even stopped watching the sunsets, too worried about running into Laserbeak. Bee doubted he could even watch the sunset alone anymore without wishing that he had the birdcon’s company.

It was surprisingly hard for the next several orns. There was a yawning feeling of loneliness that accompanied Bee, despite the multiple interactions he had throughout the day with Cybertronians who needed things delivered. He was making plenty of friends, and was on a friendly basis with most of the Cybertronians both in and out of Iacon city. There was no reason for him to feel lonely. 

Being lonely ~~and missing family~~ wasn’t the worst of Bumblebee’s troubles. Not long ago, the first medical facility had finally been fully completed and was now under Ratchet’s control. Now that there was no more worries about saving the once limited medical supplies for injuries, the medic decided that now was the best time to do more in depth check-ups on everyone before they spread out farther into Cybertron.

Bumblebee had been waiting for his ‘turn’ with building dread. And just joors ago, he got a notification from Ratchet, informing him that he needed to come down to the facility as soon as he was available. Grimacing, Bumblebee realized that his options were very limited. Go to Ratchet, get a check-up, Ratchet realizes that Bumblebee is only in second upgrade, and chaos ensues. Ignore the notification, not show up at his check-up, and Ratchet will hunt him down. Chaos, once again, ensues. A lose-lose for Bee.

Another notification popped up, startling Bumblebee out of his revere. Curious, the minibot opened it to see another delivery request. They were asking for several cubes of energon and a couple tools to be sent to Polyhex. Bee blinked in surprise at the location. While there were several cities that had begun reconstruction, Polyhex had been avoided at the moment due to the heavy and extensive damage it had taken during one of the last battles before the alliance had taken place. He had no idea that anyone was even over there.

Still, this was exactly the excuse Bumblebee needed. The notification was labeled with urgent, and Polyhex was quite a distance from Iacon. Bee would have to leave right away, and be gone long enough that Ratchet would _have_ to move onto other Cybertronians. By the time the minibot got back, there was a chance that Ratchet wouldn’t have space to do his check-up anymore! It was slightly wishful thinking, but Bee would take anything to delay the inevitable. 

Sending Ratchet a quick notification with a ‘heartfelt’ apology and excuse on why he couldn't come to his appointment anytime soon, Bumblebee quickly gathered the listed items needed for delivery, plus extra energon for himself, and got ready to leave for Polyhex. 

Right before he was about to leave, a voice called out his name. Turning, Bumblebee felt himself freeze as Ravage hurried towards him. “Bumblebee,” Ravage sighed (in relief?) as they came up to the minibot, “We need you to-” 

Oh, ‘we’ and 'need' was never something good. “Sorry,” Bumblebee interrupted with a shaky smile, “I have a notification for an urgent delivery and I've gotta go now.” Seeing Ravage look like they were going to say something else, Bee took a step backward while already starting to transform while saying, “I can talk when I get back, but it’s super important for me to deliver my packages as soon as I can!” With that, he fully transformed and zoomed away, trying to ignore the sudden bitter taste in his mouth. He left for Polyhex soon after. 

Driving alone with his music blaring along the barren surface of his route was something that Bumblebee realized he sorely needed. There was no act to put up, and now had time to himself to try and work out the current issues that he had created by avoiding Soundwave and the cassettes. This delivery would help him clear his head, and once he got back, Bee knew he had to try something different. It wasn’t fair to the ones who were just trying to be nice to him, and- deep within himself- Bee knew it wasn’t fair to himself by acting the way he was. He just needed a little more time, and this trip would help. 

The outline of Polyhex was illuminated by the fading light of day as Bee approached it, giving the damaged city a slightly eerie look to it. There didn’t seem to be any activity or lights on as Bumblebee approached the city, but as he rechecked the notification, the location was still confirmed to be just a little ways into Polyhex. A shiver ran down Bumblebee’s back struts as he drove faster to the city. He had been planning to drop the supplies off to his client, and then find a spot to rest in a less damaged part of the city for the night, but the look of it made him consider possibly just dropping the supplies off and then getting the scrap out of there. He’s stayed awake for longer. 

Due to the damage on the ground, Bumblebee had to slow down once he entered the city. The noise he made while driving echoed loudly through the silence around him, causing the minibot to wince as he considered just turning around. One botched job wouldn’t suddenly cause his clients to stop requesting him, but… well, they already paid for the delivery, and Bumblebee would feel bad if he simply returned without getting the supplies to them. 

Once he was close to the drop off location, Bumblebee started to pick up speed, eager to get the job finished. Only for someone to step out suddenly from behind one of the buildings right into the minibot’s path. Alarmed at the sudden appearance of another Cybertronian, Bumblebee hit his brakes, tires screeching at the sudden abuse. At the last moment, Bumblebee transformed with a tumble and came to his peds right before the other. 

Looking up, Bumblebee started in surprise at the sight of Soundwave. The decepticon looked just as surprised to see the minibot, only for the surprise to fall to concern a moment later. “Bumblebee: should not be here,” Soundwave spoke in a quiet and rushed voice, “What are you doing here?” 

Confused by the sudden appearance of one of the cons he had been avoiding for the past several orns and his question, Bumblebee stuttered out in reply, “I- uh… I have a delivery. Here. Near here. In this general location.” After a beat, Bee asked, “What are you doing here?” 

Rather than answer Bumblebee, Soundwave looked around, suddenly tense and alert of their surroundings. Growing tense as well, Bumblebee lowered his voice while whispering, “Soundwave?” 

A loud rustle sounded nearby and Soundwave reacted as he grabbed Bumblebee and tugged the minibot behind him just as several Cybertronians appeared in front of them- all sporting different sets of weapons. Their em fields brushed against Bee’s, harsh and painful. Scowling, Bumblebee activated his stingers while he heard the telltale sound of Soundwave’s cannon booting up. 

“Looks like the little delivery bot is here. We've been waiting for you,” a large dark green mech chuckled, a deadly looking cannon resting idly at his side, “And he seems to have drawn out our shadow.” A dark grin split across his face, reminded Bee suddenly of that mech who had followed him a while back. “We’ll be able to snag two for the price of one tonight.” 

“Bounty hunters: Desist and stand down,” Soundwave practically growled out, cannon aimed at the leader’s head, “You have no place here.” 

Optics widening at the realization, Bumblebee’s combat protocols buzzed to life, prepping him to be ready to fight for both his and Soundwave’s lives. The larger mech must have noticed, because he carefully placed a servo in front of the scout, a soft warning to not act yet. Understanding, Bumblebee allowed himself to be shuffled further behind Soundwave, despite not wanting to be hidden behind the con. He's fought battles before, and has no issue fighting one against the bounty hunters now. 

If any of the bounty hunters noticed Soundwave's action, they didn’t seem to care as the leader stepped forward with a jagged claw pointing towards Soundwave, “ _We_ can have any place we want now. Ever since your stupid war tore apart Cybertron, we are free to do what we want. No matter the 'alliance' that's been formed.” His servo moved to point at Bumblebee, “What we want is him. Scouts are rare things. Our old pal, before big blue here killed him, scanned the little bugger and sent us the data. Not only a scout, but a _youngling_ at that. Now, that’s as rare as they come. We’re not leaving till the minibot is ours.” 

Both Bumblebee’s and Soundwave’s em fields flashed in surprise- Bee’s was also tinged with horror. He… was not expecting a bounty hunter to have been the one to reveal his age. Or for Soundwave to have been the first to know. Well, it was going to happen sooner or later. It just so happened to be sooner. 

Pushing back his surprise, Soundwave decided to go on the offense since the bounty hunters made their goal clear. They wouldn't take down the decepticon, and they would _not_ get Bumblebee. Cannon blazing to life, it shot out towards the dark green mech, who dodged just in time as to not get hit. The blast roared past and slammed painfully into another mech who had been standing close behind. 

That action caused the rest of the Cybertronians to burst into action. Sprays of laser fire was blasted between groups as Soundwave stood against the fire with his own return retribution while Bumblebee zoomed around transforming in and out of his alt mode while administrating painful shocks to anyone who got close to him. With the two skilled fighters, both autobot and decepticon held their own as they fought against the bounty hunters who continued to remain strong in numbers no matter how many the two took down. 

Tumbling back to Soundwave's side, Bumblebee let out a heavy vent, "We need to find a way to break free and get back up. I don't think we can take these guys alone." 

Nodding in agreement, Soundwave replied, "Contact: unsuccessful. Hunters: using frequency scrambler." He cut himself off from what he was going to say next to pull Bumblebee away from a line of fire before continuing, "Bounty Hunters: interested in Bumblebee. Bumblebee: should escape when given the chance." 

"I'm not just gonna abandon you to fight alone!" Bumblebee argued, stinging another mech who got to close, "We're either fighting together, or running together." He received what could only be called an aggravated grunt from Soundwave, which could probably mean a bunch of different things. 

Their fighting was cut short, however, when a bounty hunter, who was both bold and sneaky enough, got behind the two while they fended off the others and snatched Bumblebee up from behind. Letting out a yelp of surprise and pain from being harshly lifted off the ground, Bumblebee struggled to be released. 

The noise of pain caught Soundwave's attention, who turned furiously at the bounty hunter and took a stepped forward, ready to blast the other's head into smolder when a loud groan echoed through the area, causing everyone to freeze. The buildings and ground were shuddering from the added abuse of the fight, and the sound of creaks and groans continued to bounce around. 

For the next several clicks, no one dared to move in the war torn area. Then, the bounty hunter who currently had Bumblebee restrained decided to take the chance to take off with their newly acquired target. He only made it a few steps before there was one last booming crack as the entire area, too weak from the wear and tear of fighting, collapsed- taking all the gathered cybertronians with it. 


	5. Chapter 5

In the dim and dusty rubble, a low groan left Soundwave as he slowly online, a red glow cutting across the thick air as his visor brightened. The only light that seemed to illuminate the area came from the blue mech himself as he slowly sat up, scraps of metal and rubble sliding off his dinged up armor. Pain gnawed at the con’s head as he carefully rubbed his helm while looking around at where he was.

There were large chunks of broken metal everywhere- most likely the remains of the buildings that once stood proud long ago- and torn up, unrecognizable ruins that made the whole area look like the twisted insides of Unicron himself. And Soundwave wasn’t sure why he was there exactly. Rubbing his helm a little harder, he thought back to what he last remembered. Megatron and Optimus Prime had confirmed that there had been sightings of bounty hunters, and had Soundwave do research. He had figured out there was an odd spike in activity in Polyhex and had gone to investigate. After finding the bounty hunters, Soundwave had been following them until Bumblebee- Oh Primus, _Bumblebee._

Now remembering the event that caused him to end up here, Soundwave pushed himself to his pedes, scanning the area around him in search of the missing minibot. Due to the very limited light around him- as well as his damaged night vision- searching for the other was slow as he was careful with every step he took, fully aware that accidentally stepping on Bee would most likely damage him. 

A while later, Soundwave’s intensive searching was turning up nothing. There was a chance that the bounty hunters had woken up and already taken off with Bumblebee, leaving the decepticon to rust in the ruins. They could be far away by now, depending on how long he had been out, and when they had taken off. A heavy vent left the decepticon. No, Bumblebee was around, he just needed to look harder. Doing another sweep in a more torn up area, Soundwave’s vents stalled when his biolights caught a flash of yellow. Moving towards that area, he was soon able to see the still form of Bumblebee

Focused on where the minibot was lying, Soundwave carefully picked his way over until he was kneeling down next to Bumblebee, servo resting gently onto the other’s chassis. Once he felt the steady hum of a spark, Soundwave pulled back to look over Bee. Unfortunately, the minibot’s left leg was thrashed and still bleeding energon. Parts of his armor were torn apart and had wires sticking out, and an optic was completely shattered. Not to mention the amount of dents and scrapped metal that littered his body. While there was nothing too serious, Bumblebee needed a medic to care for his leg soon, or else it would become serious. 

Pulling out some spare mesh that he carried around in case one of the cassettes got injured, Soundwave began to quickly wrap Bumblebee’s leg while he was still out. This would hopefully stop most of the bleeding until they got medical help. He had barely finished wrapping the minibot’s injury when the sound of him onlining caught Soundwave’s audials. Turning, the blue mech watched as the other’s unshattered optic flickered on. Bumblebee stared at the ceiling above him for a couple clicks before turning his head slowly to see Soundwave. Cloudy optic stared blankly at the decepticon for a moment before going wide. 

With a yelp, Bumblebee tried to scramble away from Soundwave. Key words: tried to. As he tried to jerk away, a horrid pain flared from his leg, causing the minibot to curl up instead with a static whine of pain. Soundwave had to stop himself from reaching out in an attempt to help the injured mech. Instead, he remained where he was, trying to look as non threatening and still as possible. Most likely, Bumblebee was reacting on instinct. Vorns of seeing decepticons as the enemy and connecting them with pain was in no way faded for the little bot, and waking up to one of the most powerful decepticons looming over him while in pain was not the best way to go. 

Finally, the cloudy look faded from Bumblebee’s optic as he slowly uncurled himself. Looking to the side, he saw Soundwave still kneeling, watching quietly as Bumblebee oriented himself. “Sorry,” Bee mumbled, now aware of what was happening.  
“Bumblebee: reacted naturally,” Soundwave assured before gesturing to the other’s leg, “Injury: may have been worsened. Inspection: necessary.” With a moment of hesitation, Bumblebee finally fully uncurled himself and allowed Soundwave to look over his injured leg once again. 

Now that Bumblebee was calmer, Soundwave’s visor skimmed over the younger’s leg once again, worried that the sudden movement could have torn something. 

“Oh. That’s unfortunate.” Bumblebee’s sudden comment made Soundwave look up at him, and then following the minibot’s sight, saw the energon soaked arm of one of the bounty hunters sticking out of the rubble. The rest of the body was obviously crushed underneath. From how it appeared, Bumblebee had just barely avoided being crushed in a similar manner. 

“For him: it is,” Soundwave replied, drawing Bumblebee’s attention back to the larger mech, “For us: it is a very fortunate thing.” The minibot didn’t reply, a frown heavy on his face as he glanced back at what remained of the bounty hunter that had grabbed him. He wasn’t a good guy, but Bee still felt his tanks twist at the mech’s unfortunate ending. “Bumblebee’s leg: did not sustain more damage. Necessary: to get back to Iacon and get medical help.”

“What about you?” Bumblebee asked, suddenly aware that he didn’t know if the blue mech was injured or not. He didn’t see any, but that didn’t mean that Soundwave wasn’t injured. From the war, Bee was well aware that there were many injuries that could be unseen.

Soundwave gave a shake of his head, “Soundwave: sustained little damage. Mostly: dents and scratches.” Giving Soundwave a careful look for a moment, Bumblebee decided that the con was telling the truth. At least, for the moment he was.  
“Ok,” Bumblebee said with a nod, feeling more oriented now, “I don’t think we’ll get a rescue anytime soon. So we need to get out ourselves, right?” At Soundwave’s confirmation, Bee gave another nod, this time more as a confirmation to himself before he began to wobbly get up. 

Surprise and a fair bit of alarm flashed through Soundwave as he stood up quickly, servos stretched out at the minibot, but not touching him. “Bumblebee: should not be putting weight on injured leg,” Soundwave said urgently as the minibot waved his servos away, “Soundwave: will carry you.” 

“It’s fine,” Bumblebee insisted as he started to limp heavily around Soundwave, “I don’t need to be carried around like a spa-” Bee cut himself off, the bounty hunters ‘announcement’ of his age flashing through his mind. “...I’ve been injured worse before. You don’t need to carry me.” At that, Bumblebee made his way around Soundwave and started to limp heavily in the direction he believed to be the way out of Polyhex. There was a beat of silence behind him before the sound of the other Cybertronian moving reached his audials. For a click, Bee hoped that Soundwave would simply follow him and say nothing. Of course, the minibot was proved wrong a moment later.

Since Soundwave was much taller than Bumblebee, and not as injured, the blue mech was able to surpass the smaller in only a couple of strides, forcing the minibot to stop as he halted in front of him. Bending down into a kneeling position, visor met optics as Soundwave gently placed his servos on top of Bee’s shoulders, ready to move if the contact was unwanted. Bumblebee tensed at the contact, but didn’t shrug it off as he tried to maintain optic contact with the other. He broke contact a moment later as his gaze shot down to his pedes. Soundwave’s gaze was too gentle, too understanding. It reminded him too much of his creators. 

“Bumblebee: should not be ashamed of being a youngling,” Soundwave spoke up softly after a couple clicks.

“I’m… not ashamed,” Bumblebee mumbled just as softly, refusing to look up now. He was afraid he might cry.

“Then: are you afraid?”

_That_ question made Bumblebee jerk his head up in surprise as he stared at Soundwave with a wide optic, “Afraid?”

Gently, Soundwave squeezed Bumblebee’s shoulders as he replied, “Bumblebee: is afraid of what may happen if there are others who know he is a youngling. You are afraid of hurting others, and of causing them trouble. Lies: have built up, and you are scared of what will happen once they are revealed. Bumblebee: does not need to be afraid. Others: will understand, and still care about you.”

At those words, Bumblebee felt his chin wobble a little as the words began to come out, much to his chargrin. “But that’s just the thing. I’ve… I’ve lied for so long. And things have just started getting better. I can’t ruin that. Everyone is happy now and I just,” Bee let out a small hiccup, feeling both optics burn despite one being offline, “I don’t know. I want things to change for the good, but I don’t want others' view of me to be changed. I don’t want them to see me as a youngling first, and Bumblebee second.” His gaze dropped back to the ground, “I don’t want to suddenly be seen as useless.”

A moment of silence, and Bumblebee felt Soundwave’s servos leave his shoulders. Tears began to build up in his optics at the loss of contact, only to let out a noise of surprise when servos gently cupped his face and lifted it to make eye contact with the taller mech. “Bumblebee: is not useless,” Soundwave began, voice serious, “No one: will ever see you as useless. _Soundwave:_ does not see you as useless.” Bumblebee wanted to say something, but he felt as if his throat had suddenly closed up on him as Soundwave continued, “Asking for help: is not childish. Neither is receiving help.” 

“...ok,” Bumblebee whispered softly. The minibot felt his vents hitch in surprise when he was suddenly drawn into a hug, his face now hidden against the other’s shoulder as small drops of tears began to slide down his face.  
Gently, a servo rubbed the back of Bumblebee’s helm. “Bumblebee: Can be both a youngling and himself,” Soundwave assured the minibot, “Nothing: will be ruined, as long as you decide to be truthful now, and work with others to fix what has been caused by the hidden truth. Soundwave: will help when he can.”

Swallowing, Bumblebee pressed himself further into the hug while offlining his optics. If he listened closely enough, he could hear the other’s sparkbeat. “Okay.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I was only really planning to have 6 chapters, but after finishing this one, I realized there was still a lot left to write. So thank you all for the comments and kudos and I'm excited to continue this fic!

Getting out of the ruins was taking much, _much_ longer than what Soundwave and Bumblebee had expected. Everything looked the same, no matter how much they walked. Or, actually, how much Soundwave walked. Bumblebee had only been allowed to walk for a small portion until his leg had suddenly given out from under him. After that, Soundwave had swept the minibot up in his arms, and had been carrying him ever since. 

There was very little conversation between the two. Which was a touch bit frustrating to Bumblebee. He didn’t like staying quiet- except when he was strictly on business when the war was happening- but to him, silence meant that something _had_ to be wrong. And Soundwave was very silent. If the scout was to be honest, Soundwave looked… mad. 

Well, not entirely mad. The decepticon had his em field tucked tight against his armor, but Bumblebee could still feel something negative buzzing underneath the other as he continued along the underground. It was starting to make the minibot feel really uncomfortable as he was being carried by said mech.

Finally, curiosity and worry won out as Bumblebee asked softly, “Are you angry?” 

The question startled Soundwave for a brief moment as he stumbled along a piece of rubble. Straightening, the mech cast a short, questioning look down at Bee, “No. Reason: for believing so?”

Shrugging as best as he could, Bumblebee kept his optics forward, “You seem really tense. And uh, well, you're kinda holding me a little too tightly.”

At once, Soundwave’s grip loosened, the blue mech having enough shame to look embarrassed. “Soundwave: is not angry,” he reassured, also looking forward, “It is:... something else.”

“Oh?” Bumblebee prompted, now looking at the other curiously. He already had his moment of emotional honesty, now it was Soundwave’s turn. “What is it?

For a moment, it looked like Soundwave wasn’t going to grace the question with an answer, but he seemed to realize that not answering Bumblebee would probably make the atmosphere around them worse. “Soundwave: is… frustrated.”

“Because we haven’t found our way out yet?” Bumblebee prompted when Soundwave didn’t say anything else.

Sighing, Soundwave replied, “Yes: but there is something else. Frustration: stems from inability to…” The decepticon trailed off, his voice suddenly taking an embarrassed note, “... inability to carry Bumblebee like cassettes. Travel: would be much easier. Complication: Bumblebee does not have a cassette form.”

The admittance caused Bumblebee’s jaw to drop in surprise as he stared up at the decepticon as he began to put it together. “Wait… so you…. were _sulking?!_ ”

“ _No,_ ” Soundwave responded, the light in his visor narrowing, “Soundwave: does not _sulk._ ” 

“You totally were though!” Bumblebee said with a giggle, amused at the realization that one of the most terrifying decepticons in history was sulking because the minibot could not be carted around like the rest of the mech’s children. “You’re sulking because I can’t turn into a cassette!”

“Soundwave: fails to see how this is funny,” the decepticon muttered, refusing to look down at the giggling minibot in his arms, “Method: would be easier for both of us.”

Okay, yeah, that did make Bumblebee feel a little guilty. It _would_ be easier for Soundwave, and put less strain on him. Instead, he had to carry the injured minibot through the ruins in his arms. Still, the sight of the blue mech sulking had brightened Bee’s mood. Patting Soundwave’s shoulder armor, Bumblebee said in a reassuring voice, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone you were sulking.”

“Thank you,” Soundwave replied back in a flat tone, sounding none too thankful towards the minibot. 

After the interaction, the atmosphere had grown less tense and gloomy. While it was still mostly silent, the two mechs would occasionally exchange words whenever they stopped to give Soundwave a rest and to check up on their injuries. 

There was still no ending of the ruins in sight, and their navigations and communications were still offline, leaving them completely cut off from the rest of the Cybertronians. If they were lucky, someone must have noticed that there had been a long enough absence of the two to send others searching for them. If not, well, then they would just have to keep on moving until they rescued themselves.

“Leg: feeling any better?” Soundwave questioned as he carefully ran his servos along the bandages, checking for any energon that might have soaked through. Bumblebee grimaced when the other wasn’t looking. Not really. In fact, the ache in his leg was steadily getting worse. 

“It… feels about the same.” 

Soundwave cast his gaze up to Bumblebee’s face, watching his expression for a moment before nodding and lifting the minibot back into his arms. “Going forward: is our best bet.”

“Are you sure I can’t walk for awhile?” Bumblebee questioned as Soundwave continued forward, “It can’t be good for any injuries you have to be continuously carrying me.” 

“Injuries: are not bad,” Soundwave replied with a shake of his head, “Walking: will make your injury worse. Soundwave: will not risk it.” Bumblebee let out an unhappy grunt, but left it at that.

They were able to walk only a little bit longer before another disaster hit. Literally. Before either could react, the rubble to the right had exploded as a mech launched forward with a furious roar, colliding into Soundwave harshly. The two bigger mechs hit the ground fighting as Bumblebee tumbled from Soundwave’s arms. His gasp of surprise had turned into a cry of pain as his injury was jarred harshly against the ground. 

Despite the pain, Bumblebee hurried to stand as best he could while activating his blaster towards the two battling mechs. Biting his lip in concentration, Bumblebee only took a moment to aim before firing. The bullet clipped the attacking mech’s side, the force enough to move him off Soundwave and gave the decepticon enough time to kick him in the midsection.

As the mech scrambled to their peds, Soundwave moved himself back, planting himself next to Bumblebee as his cannon hummed to life. It sounded weaker than before, an obvious sign that the decepticon was running low on energon.

Once the mech was fully standing, it was with startling realization that this Cybertronian was the leader of the bounty hunters that had caused this whole situation in the first place. And from his appearance, the green mech had gotten the short end of the rust stick when the ruins had collapsed. 

The whole right side of his face was shredded, yellow optic gone. The other optic burned with hatred as the mech teetered in an unstable manner due to his right arm partially missing and chunks of armor torn out of his body, staining most of the green armor a bright pink from energon. There was also a deep indentation on his helm, ripped open enough that there were visible wires sticking out. Soundwave would have seen this as not much of a threat, except that the mech was acting out of fury, and could be unpredictable. Which was not a good sign when it came to having an injured youngling with him and an extremely unstable environment.

_"You two,"_ the bounty hunter hissed venomously, "Cost me my crew! My bounty! My ticket to a good life! My LIFE!' A thick, serrated blade appeared in his only servo as he took a wobbly step forward, uncaring about both the cannon and blaster aimed at him. "You could have given up the youngling! You're a decepticon, and the pipsqueak is an autobot! Even if there is an _alliance_ ," the word was coated in disgust, "There is no reason for either of you to care for each other!" The mech took another jolted step forward. His plating- or, what was left of it- trembled with something along to fury even as he split a deranged grin. “But I have a way of making sure you two lose just as much as I will.”

Clawing at his chassis, the mech pried back part of his armor, revealing his rapidly beating spark- which was attached to a strange instrument that Soundwave wished he didn’t know. While the decepticon was able to steel himself from reacting, Bumblebee had let out a gasp of horror at seeing what was attached to the mech. “Is that…?”   
Bumblebee trailed off in a whisper, optic concentrated on what was before them. Soundwave let out a grunt of confirmation. Attached to the bounty hunter’s spark was a special type of detonator used as a last line of action to avoid being captured by the enemy, and knew that they could not obtain the information held within. It also took out any enemies nearby. Those had been one of the first things banned and destroyed since the alliance between autobots and decepticons. It was… unsurprising that a bounty hunter somehow got their greasy servos on one.

An uneasy standoff descended upon the three. If Bumblebee and Soundwave tried to run, there was a guarantee that the mech would set off the explosion. There was no telling what the crazed bounty hunter would do next, but Soundwave realized that he was outside of his element. He specialized in spy work and communications. If necessary, he would use force. None of those skills seemed to help now. Especially when it was not just himself he had to look out for. 

Bumblebee, however, had a thoughtful look come over his face. Although the bounty hunter seemed to be not all there, there was a chance that he could be reasoned with.  
“Don’t you want to live?” Bumblebee asked in a soft voice, just loud enough for the bounty hunter to hear. Seeing the green mech turn his attention towards him, the minibot slowly lowered his blastor as he continued, “You said you were looking for a good life? You won't have that if you’re dead. Cybertron… is still recovering, but everyone is getting the help they want, and building up the lives they deserve.” Bee took in a shaky vent, trying to calm his nerves, “I know that… that the war messed up a lot of lives- yours included. And I’m really sorry for that to have happened. But you can still have a good life. In Cybertron.”

The chaotic look in the bounty hunters optic faded slightly, a more solid look entering. He regarded Bumblebee for a moment, a frown on his face before it evolved into a scowl. “The only way I’ll get what I want,” he snarled, jabbing a finger at the minibot, “Is getting the shanix I was promised if I handed _you_ over.” Looking over at Soundwave, he said, “So, Big Blue, you can have a choice. Hand over the youngling, and walk away, or we all get blown up. Your time is ticking.” 

Soundwave sent the bounty hunter an unimpressed look. Obviously, he would not hand Bumblebee over, but the minibot _had_ given the other just enough time to think of a plan. Knowing he only had a couple clicks after he acted, Soundwave measured the distance between him and the bounty hunter and then fired off one single missel.

The missel hit the bounty hunter near his spark, throwing the mech to the ground with a shriek of pain. Not bothering to see the effect of the missel, Soundwave turned- scooping Bumblebee up in the process- and sprinted the opposite way of the green mech. There was a more stable structure a couple strides away, big enough to fit him and the minibot. Soundwave just barely reached it when the explosion activated behind him.

*******

Once the dust and noise had settled once again, Bumblebee onlined his one working optic, vents wheezing from the dust settling in them. He was uncomfortably squished into a small alcove with Soundwave practically curled around him. Who wasn't moving. Craning his head up the best he could, Bee could see that Soundwave's visor was dark. That would have sent the minibot into a panic if he hadn't been close enough to hear the soft hum of the other's spark.

_So he's just knocked out,_ Bumblebee confirmed to himself as he tried to find a way out of the corner he was smooshed into. It took awhile of careful maneuvering so as not to jostle his leg nor the still knocked out mech, but he was finally able to slide himself out and onto the torn up ground outside of the alcove where several patches of light were shining through. His spark leapt to his throat when he saw what was in front of him.

Soundwave's back had several large shards of metal sticking out, rivets of energon- some still moving fairly freely- staining the blue paint. If he hadn't been blocking Bumblebee, the minibot would have certainly been worse off. Shuffling close to where the injuries were, Bumblebee tried his best to patch up the bleeding, but didn't dare to touch the actual injuries themselves. If one of the shards were moved without the proper medical expertise, Bee feared it would only injure the decepticon further.

Doing all he could for Soundwave's injuries, Bumblebee to look around at their surroundings. The explosion had made the already unrecognizable landscape even more unrecognizable. On the plus side, however, it has created small areas in the roof that now allowed in light. Which Bumblebee could not reach. Well… that sucks. Even if he _could_ get out, there was no way for him to get Soundwave out as well, and he didn't want to leave the blue mech alone and injured.

While Bumblebee was contemplating his options, he almost missed the increasing noise of tires rumbling close above him. Freezing up as he recognised the sound, Bumblebee instantly scooted back until he was hidden in the shadows. While there was a chance that whoever was approaching could be a possible rescuer, there was an equal chance that this was another bounty hunter. And since Soundwave was injured and out cold, Bee wouldn't risk their location unless he knew for sure.

Tensing up further as the sound of transformation was heard, Bumblebee quietly activated his blaster as the Cybertronian got closer. If they were discovered, the minibot would fight for all it's worth to keep the other safe.

"I'm at the location where the blast was heard, but all I see is scrap and more scrap! I don't know how we're gonna find a _minibot_ in this mess! _Especially_ one as small as Bee!" Bumblebee felt his spark leapt with hope. He knew that voice, it was-

"Ironhide!"

"-hold on, I think I just heard-"

"Ironhide! It's Bumblebee!" Bee cried out, practically dragging his damaged leg as he moved underneath one of the open patches, "I'm down here!"

There was a ruckus of shuffling and a single curse, but a couple clicks later, and Ironhide's face appeared above the hole Bumblebee was looking up at. "Bee?! How in Primus' name did you get down there?

Relieved to see a familiar face, Bumblebee replied in seriousness despite the smile on his face, "Bounty hunters. There was a bunch of them." His smile suddenly dropped, "Soundwave is with me, but he's injured and out cold. He needs a medic and soon."

Seeing the seriousness of the Bee's face, Ironhide gave a tense nod, "Alright. Sit tight while I contact the others. We'll get you both out of there as soon as possible."

Once Ironhide had contacted the rest of the search party- which had been searching for both Bumblebee and Soundwave after no one was able to get a hold of either of them- they all arrived fairly quickly. Unfortunately, getting Bumblebee and Soundwave out was trickier, and as such, took much longer than what the minibot was hoping. 

Due to the constant beating the area had taken due to the fighting and explosions, the rescue party had to carefully and slowly remove the debris around the area. If there was any sort of mistake, the whole structure could collapse even more, crushing the two mechs who were tucked underneath.

Once it was cleared up enough, Bumblebee insisted on Soundwave going first, worried about the energon lose the other was suffering from the numerous injuries along his back. 

After Soundwave was pulled out and moved to where Ambulon was waiting, Bumblebee had easily been lifted out of the hole and into Ironhide's arms, where the other then rushed him to a waiting Ratchet after seeing how badly the minibot's leg was damaged. While Bumblebee could already see a lecture in process, he was too relieved to do anything but smile.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 7 is out!! Things have been busy, so it took a while for me to get this one out. This is probably going to be the second to last chapter of this fic, so expect the final chapter to be out- hopefully- sometime this November. Thank you for all the lovely comments and I hope you all enjoy!

Waking up to the sight of a clean, sterile medical facility instead of dusty ruins was a welcomed change to Soundwave. There was a dull ache in his back, and the blue mech could still feel a layer of dust settled against his vents, but it was an improvement to what he and Bumblebee were dealing with. Visor flashing in realization, Soundwave quickly looked around his room, but there was no sight of the yellow minibot. Instead, he spotted the bright red paint job of Knock Out. The doctor was casually leaning up against one wall while he held a small polisher in one servo while polishing the other. He did not seem to be aware that Soundwave was, in fact, awake. And Knock Out still would’ve been unaware if a sudden groan hadn’t left Soundwave as he attempted to sit up. 

Startled at the sudden noise, Knock Out fumbled with his polisher briefly before setting it down and swiftly hurrying over to the side of the medical berth. Placing a servo against Soundwave’s back struts, the doctor helped him sit up while letting out a tut noise, “Now now Soundwave, while you have received treatment, it is unwise to be making sudden movements. It took us quite a while to get the shrapnel out of your back.”

“Location: Bumblebee-”

“He’s being taken care of by Ratchet,” Knock Out interrupted, “Or being chewed out at the moment. I haven’t heard any more yelling in a while. Maybe the old bot finally ran out of steam.” 

That just confused Soundwave even more. Why would the medic be yelling? Was something wrong? Did something happen while he was out? Before the blue mech could ask, Knock Out had already moved on as he started heading towards the closed doors of the room. “Now, I hope you're ready for visitors. We could hardly keep those scraplets out during your surgery, and the only reason they haven’t come in is because Lord Megatron threatened to kick them out of the entire medical if they didn’t calm down.” Soundwave perked up at that, watching as Knock Out opened the enough to poke his head out and was talking to someone outside of his auditory and visual range. 

The red medic was barely able to get out what he was saying before the doors suddenly burst wide open, Soundwave’s cassettes cascading in as they rushed towards where Soundwave sat, almost knocking Knock Out on his aft in the process. Breakdown was hurrying behind them, looking run ragged as he helped stabilize the red mech. “I’m never watching after the cassettes again,” Breakdown sighed out while rubbing a dent on his shoulder, “Remind me why we want sparklings?”

Knock Out simply grinned at Breakdown, “Because they’re cute, and we would have the best sparklings.”

Completely tuning out the two’s conversation as they walked out of the room, Soundwave had his attention fully on his cassettes, who were all surrounding his medical berth while simultaneously trying to talk to him. It warmed his spark to see all of his cassettes here and safe. But it was difficult to figure out what they were trying to tell him. He extended his em field to calm his excitable entourage. They all calmed fairly quickly, and the noise died down as each one stopped talking. Ravage was the first to start again as they leapt carefully onto the foot of the berth, “They had to do surgery on your back,” the casseticon informed him, “And on Bumblebee’s leg. But the rest of your injuries were easy fixes.” 

“Assessment: Correct,” Soundwave replied back soothingly, “Soundwave: will be fine.” Despite his reassurances, the cassettes still looked uneasy about something, “Observation: something else is wrong?”

There was an extended moment of silence as the cassettes glanced at each other, seeing who would talk first. Finally, Laserbeak hopped forward, tired of waiting, “There’s been a lot of gossip. The only ones who have talked to Bumblebee about the events were Ratchet, Optimus, and Lord Megatron, but there have been rumors leaking out. About bounty hunters, and a bunch of destruction happening in Polyhex as well as-”

“Is Bee really a youngling?!” Rumble suddenly interrupted as he leaned forward onto the berth, looking up expectantly at Soundwave. 

After a click of careful consideration as he observed the curious expressions on the ones around him, Soundwave gave a short nod, “Soundwave: became recently aware.”

“And you didn’t _tell_ us?!” Frenzy gasped out, offense coloring his voice as he and Rumble crossed their arms.

“Soundwave: was incacipated. Blame: should be put on the bounty hunters.”

“So there were bounty hunters?” The question came from RatBat, who had wriggled his way up onto the med berth and was currently snuggled up against Soundwave’s hips, careful of his injuries. 

Giving the small casseticon another nod, Soundwave said, “Soundwave: will tell cassettes what happened. But first: have any of you seen Bumblebee?”

“After we weren’t allowed to see you, we went to see Bee, but they wouldn’t let us in there either,” Rumble grumbled as the cassettes were all trying to find spots on the berth to settle.

“We tried to sneak in, but Ravage almost got beaned by a wrench when Ratchet spotted us,” Fenzy added, settling down on the other side of Soundwave’s hip, “So then we just camped out for the next several joors outside of your room! With Breakdown!”

 _No wonder Breakdown looked so worn down,_ Soundwave thought in amusement as he settled himself into a more comfortable position for his still healing injuries. As the others turned their attention to him, Soundwave began.

Halfway across the medical facility, Bumblebee sat quietly on his assigned medical berth, fiddling with his servos as he waited for Optimus and Megatron to get back. After he had gone over what had happened since he left Iacon to go to Polyhex, the two leaders had left to have a private conversation while the minibot sat through Ratchet’s tirade. Partially because of how he got himself injured, and partially because Bee had decided to come clean about being a youngling. He had considered leaving it out, have it be a secret with only him and Soundwave knowing, but there was something concerning about the bounty hunters finding out so quickly that made his spark feel uneasy. So he told them. 

The three’s expressions would have been funny if Ratchet hadn’t _calmly_ told the two leaders to leave the room, and then proceeded to give Bumblebee the loudest and most furious lecture in all of Cybertronian history. Bee had never seen the medic this furious before, the closest time being when the twins had blown up part of the Arc on a dare. And now, tirade finished, Bumblebee had to sit silently while Ratchet grumbled under his breath while upgrading Bee’s files. 

Despite just being yelled at, Bumblebee was having difficulty holding himself back from talking. He knew that Soundwave was alright, but how alright was he? Did he need to have surgery due to the shrapnel in his back? Did someone tell the cassettes what happened? Bumblebee opened his mouth, but Ratchet beat him to it. “Soundwave is fine. The cassettes are with him now.” Oh. Bumblebee closed his mouth, watching the medic who was partially turned away from him. Ratchet looked less angry now, and more… sad?

“... Ratchet?”

“Hm.”

“I’m… sorry.”

That got Ratchet’s attention. Turning away from the screen he had been currently observing, the medic narrowed his optics at Bumblebee, “And what are you sorry for?”

Shifted uneasily, Bee replied, “Just… everything, I guess. Whatever is making you angry. And sad.”

“I’m not-” Ratchet began in a heated voice, but cut himself off, dragging a hand down his face. With a sigh, the medic continued in a calmer voice, “I’m not angry Bee. I’m… disappointed.”

“At me?”

Again, a harsh sigh left Ratchet as he got closer to the medical berth and leaned against it, looking down at the minibot. “A little. But not for the reasons you are thinking. Mostly, I’m disappointed at myself- and others- for not noticing you were a youngling. It’s… fairly obvious now. If we had just looked a little closer, and been less desperate to win the war, then someone would have noticed something.”

Bumblebee frowned at the tiredness in Ratchet’s voice, “Yeah, but I didn’t want others to find out. That’s why they didn’t. You can’t put the blame on others- especially yourself- when it was solely my choice to make.” Placing a hand carefully on Ratchet’s arm, Bee continued earnestly, “Plus, even though no one knew, you were all so nice to me, and treated me like your own. That was the best thing that could have happened to me, and I don’t regret joining the autobots. So please, don’t blame yourself.”

There was an extended period of silence as Ratchet simply stared at Bumblebee with a slightly furrowed expression. Suddenly, startling the minibot slightly, Ratchet reached out with an arm and wrapped it around Bee’s shoulders, carefully dragging the other to him in a one armed hug. “You’re a good kid,” the medic spoke softly, no longer looking at Bumblebee, “But, _never_ lie to me about something like this again. You could have died simply due to me giving you the wrong dosage of medicine or I could have done something that could have stunted your development. Primus, maybe I did, and we don’t know yet.”

That was something that Bumblebee had considered, so he couldn’t really think of anything to say or do, so he simply shrugged. They remained in the loose hug for a moment longer before Ratchet, squeezed Bee close briefly before standing up and heading back over to the monitor. “Do you feel up to talking to Optimus now?” Ratchet questioned, expression less tense now.

Despite the want to say no, Bumblebee nodded. Sooner or later, he’d have to talk to his leader, so he might as well do it now. At the minibot’s affirmation, Ratchet contacted the autobot leader over the comms. They didn’t have to wait long, as the door swished open as both Cybertronian leaders entered. Bumblebee shot a confused look at Ratchet by the fact that Megatron was also there. The medic ignored the questioning look as he approached Optimus and fixed his leader with an intent look, “You have limited time to talk. Bumblebee still needs his rest, and I don’t want to leave him without a medical professional until his leg is in the clear, got it?” 

“Of course, my friend,” Optimus rumbled, briefly placing his hand on Ratchet’s shoulder before striding past him towards Bumblebee. Ratchet cast a brief look at Megatron, who stood awkwardly just inside the room before exiting. Optimus was the first to speak, “Megatron,” he said in an imploring tone, “Do you wish to speak to Bumblebee first?” 

Straightening up at Optimus’s voice, Megatron looked as uncomfortable as Bumblebee felt. Was there really a reason for him to be there? Bumblebee had already told the two leaders all that there was to know.  
Clearing his throat, and remaining where he stood, Megatron said in a slightly strained voice, “I… wished to thank you for helping Soundwave. And… apologies for the… misgivings I had put upon you during the war. I… would have not done what I had done if… if I had known that-”  
“It’s alright,” Bumblebee interrupted softly, knowing exactly what Megatron was referring to. During the war, while Bumblebee had been moving very important information to an autobot base, he had been caught by surprise by a decepticon patrol led by the former warlord himself. When the minibot had refused to give up the information, Megatron had practically crushed Bumblebee’s neck, damaging his voicebox to the point that Ratchet was barely able to save it. It took a long time to heal, and there was still an ache that Bee wasn’t sure would ever go away. “It’s in the past now.”

Giving a tense nod, Megatron made eye contact with Optimus briefly before leaving as well, leaving the autobot leader and minibot alone. Bumblebee wasn’t looking forward to their talk, judging by the look on Optimus’s face, and the fact that he was tired of the conversations he had to constantly go over. First Soundwave, then Ratchet, the awkward not-conversation just now with Megatron- he was just tired of it. This is exactly one of the reasons why he dreaded the reveal of his age. Guilt and attempted apologies by others who didn’t really need to apologies.

“How are you feeling?” Optimus asked as he sat down next to Bumblebee, partially facing the minibot.

Briefly confused by the unexpected question, Bumblebee replied, “Alright, I guess? I still ache, but that’s to be expected.”

Optimus nodded understandingly, watching the minibot with soft blue optics before asking a different question, “Were you scared that we wouldn’t accept you?” 

“What?”

Optimus elaborated, “While I understand why you lied about your age at first, but why did you keep it hidden, even past the point when you were fully part of the autobots? No one would have hated you for that- I believe it would have created an opposite reaction.”

“I know,” Bumblebee replied, holding in a sigh that wanted to escape, “And that was part of the problem. If you guys knew, then there was no way you would have let me fight. I would have been useless and deadweight aboard the Arc-” Bumblebee barreled on before Optimus could interject- “I didn’t want to sit around and do nothing. Doing nothing… I wouldn’t have been able to handle it. Everyone else was fighting for what they believed in, and I wanted to do the same.” Sending an almost pleading look to Optimus, Bumblebee said in a strained voice, “You understand Optimus. I know you do!”

“I do,” Optimus consoled, placing his hand gently between Bee’s horns and rested it against his helm, “But why did you continue to keep it a secret when the war ended? There would have been plenty of Cybertronians who would have been willing to take you in, myself included.” 

Swallowing, Bumblebee realized that this conversation was sounding a lot like the one he had with Soundwave when they had been trapped underneath Polyhex. Only, this time, he wasn’t feeling so strung out, and stressed. And this was Optimus Prime he was talking to. While Soundwave and Optimus felt oddly similar, there was a definite difference between the two. “There was just no point,” Bumblebee decided to say, “Everything was changing- for the better- and I was scared that I would mess it up again. And… I didn’t want to be treated differently.” 

“Maybe that isn’t a bad thing,” Optimus said thoughtfully, “You will still be seen as Bumblebee, the sweet and kind minibot everyone knows, _but,_ everyone can now give you the care a youngling is supposed to have. The _love_ a youngling is supposed to have.” Optimus suddenly shot a sly look at Bee, “Although, it looks like Soundwave and the cassettes already have a head start. One would think that they had already adopted you.”

Taken off guard by the sudden tease, Bumblebee shot a look at his leader’s amused look as he felt his faceplate heat up slightly. “ _Optimus,_ they’re- they’re just being nice!” 

“Whatever you say,” Optimus said with an amused shake of his head before he pulled Bumblebee into a full hug- one which the minibot gladly returned. “But whatever happens after this, remember that I will always be there to help.” 

_Soundwave said something similar,_ Bumblebee thought was he curled into the hug. Honestly, with all the hugs he was suddenly getting after his secret was revealed, he was starting to feel less and less upset about it.

*****

By the time Soundwave and Bumblebee were released from medical care, Bumblebee was full on relieved. Being stuck in his med room had driven the minibot stir crazy, especially with the amount of visitors he had received. Most were worried Autobots who also wanted to give Bee a piece of their mind for lying to them for so long, but he also- surprisingly- had gotten quite a few guilty looking Decepticon visitors. As nice as everyone was, Bumblebee was tired of seeing the same expression come from each visitor. Hopefully, now that he was healed and out, he wouldn’t get so many of those looks. 

It wasn’t horrible in the medical facility though. The cassettes hung out with him a lot, and they would sneak Bumblebee over to where Soundwave was healing so they could all watch movies until one of the medics found out and carted Bee back to his room. Ratchet had almost blown a gasket the first time they snuck the minibot out. 

But now he was out, and through a bit of discussion, had been set up to be living at Soundwave’s apartment with the others until he decided what he truly wanted to do with his living situation. There had actually been some arguments on the minibot’s living situation that he had been unaware of, but all Soundwave had said on that matter was that he won. Whatever that meant.

“You know I can carry my stuff, right Soundwave?” Bumblebee questioned as the two of them headed back to the apartment where the cassettes were waiting for them to return, “It’s not really heavy.” 

“Assessment: Soundwave had no trouble carrying it then,” came the reply as Soundwave continued forward. 

Well, Bee sort of walked into that one. He didn’t really mind at the moment however. Right now, he was just enjoying the air and freedom. There was still a lot left for him to do- like apologies to the cassettes for basically blowing them off those times before Polyhex, and to decide how he wanted to continue his delivery. But he could do those later, as he and Soundwave had arrived at the apartment.  
The two walked up to the door, and as soon as it opened, a cheer rose up at the sight of Soundwave and Bumblebee entering into the home that had just gained a new member.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys felt like Optimus and Soundwave's talks with Bumblebee were similar, that is what I was intending! I wanted to add a connection between how both Soundwave and Op have a more parental role in Bee's life, and how similar their care is for him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who got excited and decided to finish this fic? It's been fun writing this story, and I'm super happy that it's been enjoyable for all of you. All of your comments were wonderful, and I hope you all enjoy the last chapter of Into the Fold.

Sipping idly on an energon juice box, Bumblebee casually swung his legs back and forth from where he was sitting as he watched Jazz bustle around the bar getting ready for the night crowd. Bee _had_ offered to help him, but the mech had denied his help, dropped the box of energon into the minibot’s hand and told him to sit off to the side until someone picked him up. Which, given the circumstances, wasn’t as bad as it could be. 

After the whole event of Polyhex, and after he had healed, Bumblebee had pretty much pleaded to continue his delivery service. He was hit with an instant _no_ by practically everyone, and it had only been because Soundwave had vouched for him that he was able to continue- but not without rules. He could no longer deliver at night, and he would have to wait to be escorted back to Soundwave and the cassettes- and well, _his_ \- apartment if it did get dark before he was done. But that was mostly because that despite the leader of that singular group of bounty hunters being dead, there were several who had escaped, and no one knew exactly who had ordered the reward for a youngling, so there was always a chance that Bee could still be in danger. He was also not allowed to deliver to any more ‘unknown’ Cybertronians. That one was a given. While a little restrictive, it was the best Bumblebee could bribe Optimus and Megatron with to ok his job. 

Luckily, Jazz- after the initial shock- had treated Bee practically the same afterwards. Except the amount of hugs and helm ruffles had increased tenfold. Which the minibot actually didn’t mind too much. Hugs were nice. And he was still allowed to sit inside the bar, although his coupon for discount engex had been taken away and promised to be given back once he was old enough.

“What are ya’ thinking ‘bout Bee?” Jazz asked as he began to clean off the table that Bumblebee had been sitting next to, “You’ve been staring at that box a long while now.” 

“Just… nothing I guess,” Bumblebee replied as he sipped up the rest of the energon, “I could still help you clean? I don’t have to be anywhere near the engex.” 

“I already said ‘no’ Bee,” Jazz said lightly as he tossed the rag over his shoulder, “Besides, Ravage just commed me and said they were outside of the bar. So you better get going.”

“Alright,” Bee said as he hopped down from his stool, “See you later then.” Before the minibot could head out however, a servo rested onto his shoulder, halting him. Turning, Bee saw Jazz watching him with a careful expression.

“You know, if living at Soundwave’s apartment gets too much for you, or you want somewhere else to stay, my apartment is always open. And I doubt my roommates would have any objections to you staying. Or, I know others who would be happy to take you in.”

Surprised at the sudden offer, Bee gave Jazz a smile as he patted the other’s servo, “Thanks Jazz, but I’m happy where I am. They’re all really nice.”

There was another click of Jazz’s careful gaze before he broke out into a big grin and let out a chuckle, releasing Bee’s shoulder before ruffling the minibot’s helm playfully. “Alright, just making sure! Just surprised how quickly Sounders snatched you up! Slagger didn’t even bother giving the rest of us a chance. See you later kiddo.” Casting the taller a bemused look at that, Bumblebee waved goodbye to Jazz as he left the bar. 

Just as Jazz said, Ravage was standing casually outside the bar waiting for the minibot. After exchanging greetings, the two began their walk back. 

“How was the delivery today?” Ravage prompted after a while of comfortable silence, their tail swishing in genuine curiosity.

“Pretty good,” Bumblebee replied with a grin, “But you would not believe what happened. While I was loading some medication for some patients of First Aid, I ended up running into Blitzwing. He didn’t say anything, just patted my head and offered me an energon pop. Then just… walked away. That’s weird right?”

“Did you take the energon pop?”

“Of course I did. There is no way I’m refusing free sweets.”

“Then I guess it’s a little weird,” Ravage rumbled in amusement, “Word has really gotten around about you.”

Bumblebee couldn’t help but grimace at that. “Yeah… it’s still weird. Like, sometimes I forget that others know now, and then I get hugged, or given a sweet, or others are suddenly doing things for me that I had done easily enough by myself before. Did you know that I had delivered something to Arcee the other day, and she gave me a kiss on the head and told me I was doing a great job? It was actually really nice, but that would have never happened before.”

“I see,” Ravage hummed, still looking a little amused, “I suppose that’s something you’ll just have to get used to.” The casseticon gently bumped against Bee, “But, if it makes you feel any better, you know we’ll always see you as Bumblebee, first and foremost.”

A soft smile took over Bee’s face as the apartment came into view, “Thanks. It means more than you think.” 

Dinner time was just as chaotic as the first time Bumblebee had joined, but this time, rather than sitting off to the side in silence, he sat among the chaos, laughing at a joke told by Buzzsaw and barely avoiding spilling his energon when Soundwave was handing it off to him. It was messy, loud, and overall wonderful. Once cleaned up, Soundwave had been quick to usher them all to bed.

“Bumblebee: stay a moment,” Soundwave suddenly said, giving a come here gesture to the minibot. Curious, Bumblebee headed over to the blue mech. Rumble and Frenzy were not pleased in the slightest.

“Why does _he_ get to stay up?” Rumble whined.

Frenzy nodded in agreement with a pout, “Especially since he’s the baby of the family now! If anything, he should be going to bed the earliest!” 

“Baby of the family?” Bumblebee questioned in confusion, “What are you guys talking about?”

The twins didn't get to answer as Soundwave spoke up, casting the two a very pointed look, “Bumblebee: will be going to bed soon. Rumble and Frenzy: should know why Soundwave is speaking to Bee now.”

There was sudden understanding in the Rumble and Frenzy’s faces, the two suddenly putting their hands over their mouths to hide the very excited grins forming before running off towards their room, shouting ‘goodnights’ behind them. 

Now terribly confused, Bumblebee asked while turning back to face Soundwave, “What was that all about?” 

“Twins words: not of importance,” Soundwave responded with a wave of a servo, “Soundwave: simply wishes to speak to you.” The blue mech seemed to think about something for a moment, a slight furrow to his face before asking, “Bumblebee:... do you-” He cut himself off servos rubbing against each other before he continued, “Do you wish to join me and the cassettes to see Thundercracker’s production? Production: will be the first to show at the new theater.”

Bumblebee’s face brightened as he smiled up at Soundwave, “I’d love to! I’d just have to send out an announcement that I won’t be available tomorrow for deliveries.”

“Clients: should understand,” Soundwave nodded in agreement. They would, if he had anything to say about it. “Breakfast: will be first, and then we will head over.” 

“Sounds good,” Bumblebee replied, still grinning as excitement curled around his spark, “Then I’ll head to my room. Sweet recharge Soundwave!” 

“Sweet recharge.” 

After Bumblebee had disappeared down the hall towards his room, Soundwave let his head drop into his servos in defeat.

“Well, you were close to asking him,” came a voice from above. Soundwave lifted his head to see his eldest, Laserbeak, flying down from where she had been hidden up in the ceiling and dropped down onto his shoulders, “Why’d you chicken out?”

Soundwave frowned underneath his mask, “Soundwave: does not feel like it is the right time. Adoption: is something special. Question: should be asked at a special time.”

“Tomorrow is pretty special,” Laserbeak offered, “And that way, we can all be together when you ask. The whole family should be involved.” 

“Laserbeak: is correct,” Soundwave replied with a gentle grin as he relaxed slightly, placing a soft kiss on the side of the casseticon’s head, “Tomorrow: we will ask. Now: Laserbeak should get to recharge as well.” 

After getting Laserbeak to her berth, Soundwave went around to all of his cassettes' rooms, bending down and placing a kiss on each sleeping head. He stopped just outside of Bumblebee's room, hesitating briefly before quietly opening the door. The minibot was deep in recharge as Soundwave tiptoed in and knelt down beside the berth. Gently, Soundwave pressed a soft kiss to the minibot's head, just like he had with the rest of his children, before getting up and leaving just as quietly as he had entered.

********

Corralling all of the cassettes- plus Bumblebee- into the newly built theater was a challenge that Soundwave had gotten used to over the vorns, but still couldn’t master. There were just too many of them hopped up on energy to keep in one place. When he got one settled, another would suddenly be on the roof. And it was not one of the fliers. Even his most well behaved children were having difficulty staying still as Soundwave was getting them admitted in by Hound, who was grinning widely at the sight. “Enjoy!” the mech called out as the group practically swarmed in. Several Cybertronians had to quickly scoot away from the mass of chattering that was coming down the hallway. Luckily, the sound of chuckling from the others showed that they didn’t really mind.

Settled in the auditorium, Bumblebee found himself snug between Howlback and Slugfest just as the show was about to start. The show was… interesting. There were a lot of things in it that Bumblebee didn’t really understand, but it was entertaining enough to keep his and the cassettes’ attention glued on the show. Halfway through, Bumblebee glanced briefly over at where Soundwave sat. Although it looked like he hadn’t moved since the start, the minibot realized that the other’s head was slightly tilted back and his visor had dimmed. Soundwave had fallen asleep. Hiding a giggle behind his servo, Bumblebee turned back to the show, content to let Soundwave sleep through this one.

The chaotic energy from earlier had lulled into something calmer after they left the auditorium, Soundwave calmly ushering out the group as he covered up the fact that he had woken with a start at the very end of the show, unaware that he had fallen asleep in the first place. And the only one who seemed to know was Bumblebee, who gave the blue mech a knowing look before he was pulled into a conversation with RatBat. With all them distracted with talking to each other, Soundwave easily led them to where their next destination was. He didn’t even need to tell the group what was before them as he heard someone let out an excited exclamation, “A picnic!”

A grin formed behind Soundwave’s faceplate as the excitement grew in the group. He had called in a.... _favor_ to Skywarp to set this up while he took the cassettes and Bee to the auditorium. After all, today _was_ special. He let the cassettes spread out and get the different forms of energon out while taking a seat close by. Despite the excited chatter, Soundwave could tell that there was an underlying nervous energy that buzzed around the cassettes- one which Bumblebee seemed to be oblivious to. That, or he didn’t want to call attention to it. Laserbeak had let them all know that the blue mech decided to ask Bee about the adoption today instead of last night, but they didn’t know when. So it had partially put them on standby, waiting for Soundwave to drop the question.

Truth is, Soundwave had no idea when to bring it up either. There were plenty of chances, but he felt himself holding back. A nagging feeling at the back of his processor seemed to tell him it was a bad idea. That Bumblebee wouldn’t be ready, and asking him now would end up driving the minibot away from the small family once again. 

A small nudge against Soundwave’s hip shook him out of his thoughts, and he looked down to see Ravage gazing up at him with careful red optics. “If we keep holding it off,” the cassiticon murmured, “Then we’ll never get around to asking, and sooner or later, we might not get the chance.” Ravage paused in thought, eyes narrowing in consideration, “But even if we don’t, Bee is still family. And he will always be now.”

Soundwave placed a hand on top of Ravage’s head, “Soundwave: understands. Bumblebee: is already a part of our family.” He let out a deep vent, looking forward at the rest of their family, “Not necessary: to make official. However: adoption, may allow Bumblebee to understand we are there for him now.” When Ravage let out a purr of agreement, Soumdwave felt his confidence solidify. It was time. 

“Bumblebee,” Soundwave’s voice was calm, but it seemed to echo through the spread out area, “Soundwave: must speak with you.” The minibot suddenly looked a bit wary, while all the cassettes went suddenly silent, optics gleaming in anticipation and excitement. Slowly, Bumblebee walked over to where Soundwave was at. Once only a foot or two from the blue mech, Soundwave bent down slowly so that he was closer to being face to face with the yellow youngling. Seeing the miniscule tremble in Bee’s servos, Soundwave felt a little bad about making the minibot so nervous, but hopefully that would change.

Taking another deep vent to steady himself, Soundwave looked straight at the other and began, “Bumblebee: has been living with Soundwave and cassettes for a while now. Interactions: have been going on for longer. Discussion: has been going on. Decisions: have been made.” Bumblebee was quiet, attention fully on Soundwave as he stared with wide, confused optics. Placing has servos gently on top of Bumblebee’s shoulders, Soundwave continued, “Cassettes: care for Bumblebee. _Soundwave_ : cares for Bumblebee. And Bumblebee: cares for us.” Here it goes. He can do this. “Question: will you allow us to adopt you?”

At the question, Bumblebee’s mouth dropped into a small ‘o’, completely taken off guard. For a few moments, he couldn’t say anything, the words seemingly stuck in his throat. The warmth of Soundwave’s servos on his shoulders, accompanied with the feeling on the cassettes em fields suddenly felt increased and all around Bee as he swallowed weakly. “A-adoption?” he finally whispered in disbelief, “You… want to adopt me?” 

“Only: if Bumblebee wishes to,” Soundwave replied back just as softly, beginning to remove his servos in case it was upsetting Bumblebee, but let out a surprised oof as he as suddenly tackled in the middle by a hug by the minibot. Bumblebee was practically shaking as he clung to Soundwave and said in the quietest voice the blue mech has heard, “Yes please. _Yes_. I want a family again.” 

Relief washed over Soundwave as he wrapped his arms tightly around the newest addition to the family, looking up at all the waiting cassettes and giving a singular, affirming nod. At that, a roar of cheering left them and suddenly Soundwave had fallen onto his back as he and Bumblebee were suddenly dogpiled into a hug by the rest of their family. Despite feeling crushed by the amount of weight suddenly on top of him by his giggling children, the only thing Soundwave felt was a warm glow in his spark and a feeling of wholeness.

Later, when the hug had broken apart and his children were all gathered together, Soundwave snapped a picture and forwarded it.

**Soundwave: Adoption: Success.**

**Shockwave: Congratulations.**   
**Shockwave: Now stop sending me pictures of your kids.**

**Soundwave: No :)**

A laugh leaving Soundwave as he already could sense another aggravated text from Shockwave, the blue mech got up and joined his little family that had grown with the addition of one yellow minibot. They were now complete.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was the end! Worry not, there will be a sequel! I'm... just not sure when. It may be awhile, as I am working on a couple other fics right now, but I can hopefully get the first chapter out in a couple months. Which brings me to a question- would you all prefer the one behind the bounty hunters to be a character who is already canon, or would you all want to see an oc behind it all? 
> 
> Also, if anyone has questions, or would just like to chat about transformers, my tumbler is @a-samwich. Thank you all for reading and have a lovely time!


	9. Bonus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Very short bonus chapter of how it was decided that Bumblebee would live with Soundwave and the cassettes.

Tensions ran high as an odd selection of Cybertronians sat in a circle around a table with Optimus at the head, the expression on his face serious. In fact, the only one who did not look serious in the group was Jazz, who was barely attempting to keep the amused grin of his face as he observed what was before him. With how tense everything was, you would think that this was some sort of grave meeting that held the fate of thousands, not-

“So, who is going to house Bumblebee?” 

At Megatron’s question, Jazz no longer tried to hold back his grin as Optimus sat up straighter, and replied back, “I believe that since I had been Bumblebee’s leader since he first joined the Autobots, I would be the most applicable to take care of the youngling.”

“Incorrect,” Soundwave’s voice instantly shot back from the other side, the light of his visor narrowed in a thin line, “Prime: does not have the skills necessary to take care of a youngling properly. Soundwave: is the best option.”

“Oh?” came Ratchet’s reply, a scoff in his voice, “And just what makes you think that you are the most qualified to take care of Bumblebee? It wasn’t that long ago that you could, _and would have_ , killed the scout without a second thought. 

A low blow, judging by the way Soundwave’s servos curled tensely into a fist, “Soundwave: would not harm a youngling. Bumblebee: trusts Soundwave and cassettes now.”

“So? Bumblebee trusts a lot of other Cybertronians. It doesn’t explain why _you_ are the best option.”

“Cassettes: are not much older than Bumblebee- they are barely out of youngling age. Soundwave: has raised them since they were sparkling,” leaning forward Soundwave gave Ratchet a hard glare, “Soundwave: _has experience._ Everyone else: _doesn’t._ ” 

Ratchet let out a grunt, but didn’t argue against Soundwave’s logic. Instead, it was Jazz who spoke up, “Makes sense to have him stay with you since you’re the most experienced, but uh, don’t you think your place is a little crowded?”

Optimus latched onto Jazz’s statement with a firm nod of his head, “Yes, Bumblebee wouldn’t be getting the attention a youngling needs from an adult figure. Your attention would be too divided. He would be better off with someone else. Even if it cannot be me, I know that there are many others who have enough space and time for a youngling like Bumblebee.”

That apparently wasn’t enough to sway Soundwave who simply shook his head as he leaned back, “Bumblebee: needs family, not a roommate. Cassettes: will help Bumblebee feel more included in a family. Optimus: cannot give Bumblebee the full attention a youngling needs. Leadership: demands more time than anything,” he pointed a servo at Jazz, “Jazz: owns a bar. Bars: need a lot of attention. Plus: Bumblebee should not be around engex.” Leaning forward, Soundwave spread his servos against the table, visor burning with confidence, “Soundwave: can explain why each Cybertronian would not be fit to raise a youngling. Either way: Soundwave is the best choice.”

Seeing the building defeat on the faces of the other inhabitants of the room, Soundwave smirked behind his mask. He had won.


End file.
